Hillary-Backer AFSCME's Montana Mailer: Brought To You By "Your Union"
Not long ago we brought you word of a new mailer that Hillary-backer AFSCME had dropped in Indiana.
The piece didn't have the acronym "AFSCME" anywhere on it and didn't identify the source of the mailing beyond saying that it was "brought to you by your union." In theory this could be misleading if it fell into the hands of a member of a non-Hillary-backing union.
Now AFSCME has sent out another mailer in Montana which, similarly, says that it's "brought to you by your union." Click on the image below to enlarge:
In the case of the first mailer, an AFSCME official told us that this was a justifiable way of identifying the sender because it wasn't a mass mailing. The current, piece, however, was mailed out. So what gives?
AFSCME has now offered a clearer explanation for this practice. According to AFSCME director of public affairs Ethan Rome, the union has been sending out pieces like this in tandem with other unions supporting Hillary. The piece is identified in this way because it makes it possible to use the same mailer in different states, where there might be different unions AFSCME wants to collaborate with.
"It's from a number of unions that are united to support Hillary for president," Rome says. "The constellation of unions isn't the same in every state."
Rome added that the mailer is sent only to the homes of members of participating unions. "It's either mailed to people's homes or distributed at the workplace," he said. "I don't think it's very likely that it would make it to an unintended audience."
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